It's Sunday night at 9.30 and I'm tired! It was a long day today. I woke up early to go to Maximo with Elly for our Sacred Valley tour. The bus was a bit late and then we spent the next 30 minutes stopping every other block to pick up more people. I would have prefered to have walked a block or two to save a bus stop.
We finally got on our way and our tour guide was quite amusing. He called our group "family" and that he was "papa." whenever he needed to get us in a group he eould tell his "babies" to gather. It sounds creepy but it was amusing.
We drove for a bit and had some beautiful mountain views.
We finally reached a town called Pisac where they have a large market. We went and looked at a silver factory and then were on our own. Elly and I wandered around a bit and through all the crafts we found the farmers market. There were so many potatoes and different kids of veggies! There was even a stall of paint powders where you dip in a wet brush and get some gorgeous water colors.
It was about time to go so Elly and I started so walk in the direction we though was right. It took us outside the market but it was the road we had come in on so we knew where to go. Along the way a guy tried to
sell us his paintings. We walked past and moved on. A little while later we were trying to break a 50 note and the guy came over and helped. I decided to take a look at his paintings and they were decent. He kept dropping the price and I bought a small one of some women at a market for 20 soles. I did like the painting but at the
same time I noticed his shoes were well worn, his wallet was falling apart, and he seemed very excited to show his work and a bit desperate to sell it. I felt like he really did need the money unlike some of the other venders.
Elly too decided to look at a painting and he was so excited to show her. She said no and off to our bus we went. He kept calling out the price as we walked away. As we were sitting in our seats discussing the guy, we heard a knock at the window. Guess who? He was still trying to sell his work. We laughed a bit because he was so over the top. I'm a bit surprised he didn't get on the bus.
We continued on to Urabumba where we had a buffet lunch at a beautiful restaurant. The food was good and the view wonderful. The buffet was included in our ticket price but some drinks were not. When we ordered
it wasn't disclosed to us that they weren't included or what the cost was. I ended up paying 6 soles for a bottle of water.
We went to our last stop which was Ollantaytambo. Here were some amazing Incan and pre Incan ruins. We walked up the giant terraces to the temple of the sun. We were able to see the remains of Incan (or pre) grain storage and wealthy housing on the mountainside opposite us. We walked along a narrow path with a steep drop below. We went to the other side of the ruins where we descended. One interesting thing we've noticed is that some of the steps are giant! They'll be up to my knee! They're also quite uneven and tricky to walk on.
This is a wall in the temple of the sun. The Spaniards destroyed much of the design, but with some creativity you can see the outlines of 3 jaguars. The Inca did many things in triplets to represent heaven, the present, and the underworld.
Ollaytatambo is also where I had to be abandoned as I was the only one in my tour who was taking the train from there to Machu Picchu. I wander the streets for a bit but didn't know what to do so I went to the train station early and sat.
The city was absolutely beautiful with stonework and little aqueducts running in the street.
In this picture you can see the water alongside the building, and the teeny little bridges to get you from the sidewalk and through the doors of the houses/stores.
I didn't ride one of these, but found it amusing.
Train ride was uneventful because it was dark and I couldn't see anything. I did sit next to a guy with a giant orange puffy jacket. Just a bit amusing.
The snack consisted of a beverage, pretzels, and cookies made of corn flour and covered in chocolate. When you bite into them they taste good at first, but then they taste like you're eating an ear of corn. I found it a bit disturbing.
Now I'm sitting int hotel in Aguascalientes near the base of Machu Picchu. I was picked up from the station by a woman who brought her little daughter along. The kid was very excited and insisted on holding my hand. So we walked to my hotel and here I sit waiting for my guide to show up and give me some info about tomorrow. I'm
exhausted so I hope they come soon. My paperwork said 9 but the hotel said it's usually 10. Luckily it's just about 10 now hopefully bed soon.
The hotel was simple, but the shower was nice! The view out the window was fairly touristic, just like the rest of the town.
Another though, I have no clue what the tipping policy is here. It's confusing enough in the US. I would have liked to tip the woman and her daughter but the expensive water drained most of my coins. Plus I'm not really sure if it is customary to tip here. I know some if the other girls in my house have wondered the same.
So it's now 10.30 and I am not happy. No guide has showed up. I also found out I can't lock my hotel door from the outside. I just hope the push button lock on the inside is actually working. I'm thinking that tomorrow I may just have to go to Machu - scratch that. Tour guide showed up. He forgot about me. Luckily he gave me a later option for tomorrow, but I am definitely not getting up at 4 to climb Wayna Picchu, which I had wanted to do. So, more sleep is good.
Sunday morning I got up early and had a breakfast of bread, fruit, and tea. The hotel also offered eggs and waffles, but they looked questionable. There was also 3 kinds of fresh juice, but I didn't know how long they'd been sitting out.
My guide showed up on time (he said he had to run) and we walked to the bus station. I took a blurry picture of the bridge that is the entrance to the mountain.
We zigzagged up the mountain for about 10, 15 minutes and finally arrived to the entrance to the ruins. There is a hotel up there and if you're willing to spend at least $800 a night, you can stay there. The entrance was quite busy with various tours waiting for the rest of their people. There were bathrooms (cost 1 sol) and a small cafe with premade sandwiches at the low price of 27 soles, or about 9USD.
My many Machu Pichu pictures will have to wait for this afternoon or possibly tomorrow. Who knew I could take so many photos?
Stairs up to your knees? Isn't that where they normally come up?
ReplyDelete